Bayonne Marinadour / Mateo Arquitectura

Architects

Mateo Arquitectura
Location

Bayonne, France
Architect in Charge

Josep Lluís Mateo
Area

70000.0 m2
Project Year

2015
Photographs

Aitor Estevez

“Bayonne Marinadour is the first intervention to be completed in a complex of actions marking the new entrance to the city of Bayonne.

The other elements are a park produced by remodelling the approach road to Henri Grenet Bridge and, overlooking it, the built complex of Rivadour.

These pieces establish synergies and interrelations, forming a unitary urban complex at the gateway to the historic city.

Bayonne Marinadour is an exercise that involves adapting a significant degree of urban density and organizing a complex mixed brief.

The volume addresses the extreme density of the brief, arranging the masses around two landscaped courtyards, creating an interplay in height and in full-empty relations to generate the best possible con- ditions in the shared spaces.

Large urban windows open up the courtyards to the outside, to the sun and the river.

In section, the project segregates the various uses in different layers: a car park and a shopping centre form the base. Above, independent, are dwellings of multiple types and conditions that vary in floor plan to adapt and optimize the relation with the exterior.

The envelopes also follow this logic: the south and east façades, which are most exposed to traffic, are protected from noise by double glazing that formalizes a conservatory terrace with high energy rating.

To the west, the volume is broken down and its envelopes are reflective metal: we have to let light and air into the courtyard. On the river side, the horizontal of the terraces follows the geometry of the water.

This morphological and volumetric complexity speak of the desire to adapt to the context, and also of the desire to reduce the urban impact of this high built density.”